The Imaginary Garden

This week we have enjoyed reading, The Imaginary Garden, by Andrew Larsen, and worked hard to create our own imaginary garden wall in the library learning commons. What a beautiful garden!

What is your favourite flower?  I love hydrangeas and roses! Do you think gardens are important? Why?
Do you have a garden? What do you grow?  Please tell us in the comments section below.

What is composting?

This week we are reading Charlie's Dirt Day, by Canadian author, Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli, also a Canadian. In this story, Charlie learns all about composting so I thought it would be fun to try composting in our Library Learning Commons!

I wonder how long it will take to make our compost?  We know that it needs brown (dry leaves, twigs), green organics (grass clippings, orange peel, banana peel), water (just until it's crumbly), and air.  We will have to give it more water and a stir every few days.  Now we wait!  Maybe we will be able to use the compost for our avocado seeds that are looking ready to sprout any day!

Can you tell what went into our compost?
We started with some dirt, twigs and dry leaves and added grass clippings, orange peels, banana peels, coffee grounds and tea leaves.  Then we added some water and mixed it all together with a gardening fork.  

The bottom picture shows what our compost looked like once it was mixed up.  The plastic container has small holes in the bottom and we put the black lid on top and put the compost in the window where it will get some sun.

Update:  May 2nd

Update: May 9th

Can you spot the mold?  What does the mold do? What do you notice that's different since last week?  Since the beginning?

Update: May 16th

What changes do you notice in this week's photo?  Do you think the compost is ready yet?  Why or why not?

Meanwhile, in the Library Learning Commons...

Students have been busy building some very creative structures! I'm doing a read aloud of
 A Creepy Case of Vampires, by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel, getting in the mood for the spookiest day of the year coming up at the end of this month! After sharing part of the book today, students invented "bat detectors", and explained how it worked. There are some very imaginative kids at Katzie!

Keeping with the spooky theme, Grade 2's heard a Winnie the Witch story, written and illustrated by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul. These stories are such fun! Winnie is hilarious and I love her cat Wilbur. Here are some creations inspired by the story, Winnie's Dinosaur Day.